The Diary of a Hunter of Artemis
by HunterofArtemis01
Summary: Abigail Gao, daughter of Poseidon, a legacy of Aphrodite, and now, Hunter of Artemis. Follow Abby as she joins the Hunters and deals with the new threats and thrills of being in this group of eternal maidens. No dating, no boys. Rated T for violence and the occasional swear word. Starts after HoO and before ToA. BTW I do not own the Hunters of Artemis. Uncle Rick does.
1. Chapter 1

**Looking back, I can tell this chapter is kinda crappy. I promise it gets better. Trust me.**

This is the Diary of Abigail Gao, Daughter of Poseidon, Legacy of Aphrodite, now Hunter of Artemis. If anybody reads this work without my permission, I will personally hunt you down and kill you. Well, maybe not kill, but at least kick your butt.

Nov. 30

Dear diary,

Today I have become a Hunter of Artemis! How it happened was like this.

I was out in my 10-acre backyard, sniping at squirrels when I saw a fox. Except that it was huge. And, it was running toward the tree in which I was in. Unfortunately, it was obviously a monster. Also, my arrows were normal arrows that mortals used. Not the Celestial Bronze kind. I reached for the dagger that hung from my belt. I aimed carefully at the fox's neck. It would be a tricky shot, and my only chance to kill it.

The fox charged toward the tree and leaped, barely missing my toes. I threw, but I was off-balance. My knife disappeared into the forest. I was about to leap off the tree and run for it when a silver arrow sprouted from its right shoulder. The fox snarled at me as if saying this isn't over and bounded off, disappearing almost immediately. I climbed down to find and thank my rescuers, who had just emerged from the trees. About 20 girls, wearing black combat boots, blue jeans, and silvery ski jackets, which seemed kind of odd, seeing that we were in Texas and it only snowed about once every six years.

Only one group of girls I knew wore this kind of clothing. "You're the Hunters of Artemis, right?"

"That is correct." A girl, about 10 years old spoke. She had auburn colored hair and eyes, silvery yellow as the moon. "I am Artemis, and these are my sisters-in-arms, my attendants, my companions. And I am giving you the choice of joining our ranks."

I was stunned, to say the least. Then, someone I knew stepped forward. "I know it's a big choice, but its definitely worth it," Thalia said. I had only met her once, during the Battle of Manhattan, but Thalia was not someone you forgot easily. She grinned. "And, no more boys stalking you." at that, I was sold. At Camp, I was forced to stay in the Aphrodite cabin until Percy made the gods swear to claim their children, and it was the girls in the Aphrodite cabin that many boys chased after. And don't even get me started on the mortal boys.

"Alright, I'm in," I said. "Is there paperwork, or do I need to get a signature, or what?"

"Just repeat after me."

_I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis._

_I turn my back on the company of men,_

_accept eternal maidenhood,_

_and join the Hunt._

"I accept your oath. Welcome, sister," Artemis clasped my hand. I immediately felt stronger, more grounded than I'd ever felt before. Thalia smiled. "Let me introduce you. But first, that was the Teumessian Fox. We have been tracking it for weeks. So, I'll introduce you while we follow it." Everyone cheered and started running toward the East. Don't ask how I knew, I just did.

"Alright. You know me, I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus. I don't use a last name. Okay. Name, Parenthood, and anything else you want us to know." Thalia said.

"Abigail Gao, daughter of Poseidon, Legacy of Aphrodite. And no, I don't do makeup, or Charmspeak, the only thing I got from Aphrodite was that I can't stand outfits that don't go together."

"Wow. That means that we've had 3 daughters of the Big Three in less than 10 years. Oh, by the way, I'm Jasmine, I'm a nymph." a girl introduced herself.

"These are going to be your tent-mates. Rachel and Julianna. They'll carry on from here." Thalia raised her voice. "Rachel! Jules! Over here!" Two girls ran over, one looked about 12. She had dirty blond hair and was built more on the solid side. The other was around 14. She looked Asian and was built like a ballet dancer.

"Hi! I'm Rachel. I'm a mortal."

"I'm Julianna, daughter of Apollo, unfortunately."

"I'm Abigail, daughter of Poseidon, a legacy of Aphrodite, but I go by Abby."

"Cool. So, there are some things you need to know," Julianna explained. "First, the three of us are tent mates. That means we do everything together. Camping, fire, food, and sometimes, we'll have friendly tournaments, like shooting, racing, hand to hand combat..."

"Don't forget the animal training!" Rachel interrupted.

"Yeah. Another thing, there is a kind of hierarchy, with Artemis at the top, then her Lieutenant, then you got best tracker, best healer, and fastest runner. Anyone can challenge for those three. Lieutenants are picked by Artemis herself, and only when the previous Lieutenant dies. Thalia is right now, Zoe Nightshade was before her.

Rachel took over. "Right now, the best tracker is Sidney, fastest runner is Jasmine, and best healer is..."

"Yours Truly." Julianna grinned. I smiled. Even though I'd only knew them for a few hours, they already felt like family. Just then, I heard a whistle. Everyone stopped and started setting up camp. Thalia came over and smiled. "Good bonding eh?" she handed me a silvery backpack. "Here's your pack. Clothes, some healing ointment all that good stuff. And it disappears when you don't need it. Just like your bow and arrows and hunting knives." she winked at me and left.

"Bow and arrows? Hunting knives?" I was very confused.

Rachel nodded. "They only appear when you need them. Everyone's does. Except for Thalia, she has a replica of the Aegis and a spear."

"and, we got this _sweet _tent." Julianna pulled out a silvery cloth about the size of a pack of gum.

"That's a tent."

"Yup. Stand back." she tossed the cloth onto the ground. It immediately expanded into a 10 x 10 tent. Julianna smirked. "Check it out. Air-conditioned. Sleeps four, and it has a buffet table and sleeping bags inside. _And_, whatever extra stuff you put into it collapses with the tent."

"You win. That's one sweet tent."

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading this story! Feel free to give constructive criticism.**

**Good Hunting,**

**~Hunter of Artemis 01**


	2. Chapter 2

Nov. 31

Dear diary,

I was woken up today at the crack of dawn. I donned my new outfit as a Hunter of Artemis-white shirt, blue jeans and black combat boots. There was a silver ski jacket, but I decided to put it in my pack, seeing that it was like, 65 degrees, and sunny. Anyways, we were told to split up in search of the fox, since it's tracks had disappeared last night. Julianna tossed me a small, white thing that resembled an earpod, except without the part coming out of it.

"Communication device," she said. "We all have one."

"I thought demigod communication was down," I said, wondering what else Artemis had hidden from the rest of the world. Nuclear weapons? Whole countries?

Julianna smirked. "You'd be surprised. We have many things that no one else knows, especially survival gear. I've been a Hunter for over three hundred years, and Lady Artemis still has things I do not know of."

"Hey, are you going to talk all day, or are we setting out?" Rachel said.

"Coming, mother!" I called, jokingly.

Rachel grinned. "So, why don't we go that way?" she pointed to the east.

"Is there a reason, or is this like, a gut instinct?" I asked.

"Wait, let me guess, gut instinct." Julianna mumbled.

"That is correct!" Rachel turned and sprinted off the east. Julianna shrugged and we ran after her. Three hours later, Rachel showed no sign of slowing down. Even with enhanced endurance, I was starting to tire, and from the looks of it, so was Julianna.

"How?" I panted, gesturing at Rachel, who was forging ahead.

"Rach was on a running team. Five minutes for a mile." I didn't bother answering, I was using enough energy trying to keep up with Rachel.

All of a sudden, Rachel stopped, Julianna and I nearly crashing into her.

"Shh. there's something in those bushes." We each pulled out our bows and nocked and arrow, standing back to back in a circle. A clump of bushes on my right rustled, and a black shadow leapt at us. I drew my bow and fired; the hellhound melted into a puddle of shadow. I started forward to retrieve my arrow, but Julianna stopped me.

"Wait," she hissed. "Sometimes…" as if on cue, a pack of hellhounds emerged from the shadows, at least eight of them, forming a circle around the three of us. Dropping my bow, I drew my knives, bringing them down on the nearest hellhound, which promptly disintegrated. I heard a shrill whistle, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a falcon emerge from the clouds, dive bombing the monsters. Spinning around, I jabbed at a hellhound that was about to pounce on Rachel from behind.

"Thanks," Rachel said, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Julianna brought her knife down on the last hellhound's snout and it melted into shadow.

"I have a question," I asked. "Where did the falcon come from?"

Rachel grinned. "She's mine. Meet Swift." she whistled, and the falcon landed on her shoulder and looked at me. I swear I could understand it's thoughts. It was thinking, _who's this newbie?_ "Hi Swift. I'm Abby." She ruffled her feathers and looked satisfied.

Just then, I heard a voice over my communication device. _This is Sidney. We have spotted the Tessumian Fox at 30° 59' 58.992'' N 97° 54' 46'' W. _

Julianna held her finger to her device. "This is Julianna. Tessumian Fox at 30° 59' 58.992'' N 97° 54' 46'' W." Rachel took out a map of the US. It had a hologram of a bow and arrow floating above the Austin area, around Fort Hood.

"This is where we are," Rachel pointed to the hologram. "We need to get to 30° 59' 58.992'' N 97° 54' 46'' W." the map shimmered, the icon of a target appearing.

Julianna scowled. "That is around ten miles away. We won't be able to get there before sunset if we walk. And I don't like being left out of things."

I grinned. Finally, I could start pulling my own weight. "Leave it to me." I closed my eyes and concentrated on sending my message to my pegasus. Soon, three shapes emerged from the clouds, heading towards us.

Milky Way, or Milky for short, is a cream colored pegasus, with gold, brown, and light purple spots, as if someone splattered point on a canvas. Her eyes are a dark amber. She whinnied. '_Sup, Boss? This is Blackjack, and this is Misty._

I turned to my companions. "Rachel, Julianna, meet, Milky Way, Milky for short, Blackjack, and Misty."

Rachel touched Misty's nose. "She's beautiful." Misty neighed. _Well, duh!_

I mounted Milky. Julianna and Rachel hopped on Blackjack and Misty, respectively, and we were off, soaring over the treetops. _Where to?_ Milky said. "Where to?" I yelled over my shoulder. "NORTH-EAST!" Rachel hollered back. "You heard her," I muttered, as the three pegasi changed direction.

After a while, I got bored, thanks to ADHD. I guess being a hunter doesn't take away Dyslexia or ADHD, though I only had the latter. "So, what do y'all think about boys?" I asked, falling back so I was in between Blackjack and Misty, and their respective riders.

"Boys in general are jerks who treat females as property." Julianna stated. I guess being born in the 1700s gives you that mindset.

"Boys are like a lesser sub-species of human. They are clueless, and rather dense, but are tolerable," Rachel said. "How about you, Abby?" I pursed my lips, remembering all those times I'd heard the phrase '_you're just a girl'_ or '_this is for boys only'. _

Even at Camp Half-Blood, Percy always had the spotlight. The 'savior of Olympus', 'Child of the Prophecy', 'one of the Seven', 'survivor of Tartarus'. He had so many titles under his belt. Percy didn't know it, but I was constantly being compared to him. I didn't even get a first impression. It was always "_Oh! So you're Percy Jackson's little sister!" _

"Abby!" a voice jolted me out of my memories. "Earth to Abby!" Rachel yelled at me. "Wassup? You still didn't tell me what you think about boys!"

I shook my head. "Oh, uh, just took a walk down memory lane. Um…" my voice trailed off, pondering those memories. "Boys, boys are obnoxious jerks, _(understatement)_." then I remembered Percy, my dad -Poseidon, Frank, Jason, all the boys that were nice and respected women. "Well, some boys are okay, like Percy. But, you know, you got to prove that they can't mess with you." I grinned, thinking of all those times I'd used blue cookies as leverage against Percy, -I'd gotten the recipe from Sally.

"We're here!" Julianna pointed to a clearing. I unslung my bow, and urged Milky Way into a landing. She landed lightly, her wings extended. I slipped off, and thanked the three pegasi. Blackjack whinnied. _Miss, can we get some donuts?_ I sighed. Percy had told me all about this. "I don't have any donuts. But I do have sugar cubes." I held out a handful. Blackjack ate them, snorting with pleasure. "Do you two want any?" Misty and Milky Way declined.

"Donuts?" Julianna asked.

"Yeah. Blackjack always wants donuts." I grinned

Rachel sighed. "I found a note, if anyone's interested." she reached into the hollow of a tree and took out a small silvery sheet of paper and unfolded it.

_The fox went North. Keep in touch. Good hunting!_

_\- Sidney, Thalia, Skye_

Rachel scowled. "Sidney always gets there before me."

Julianna rolled her eyes. "Rachel's been trying to get 'best tracker' since…" her voice trailed off.

"Since when?" I asked.

A shadow of pain crossed Julianna's face. When she answered, her voice was barely a louder than a whisper. "Since Phoebe passed. May her soul rest in Elysium."

Rachel chewed on her lip uncomfortably. "We lost so many against Orion. That's why our numbers our so small." she made the ancient sign for warding off evil.

I started fidgeting with the silver bracelet I had gotten from my mom, a nervous habit. Finally, Rachel spoke, her voice hoarse. "Let's go. We have a fox to catch." Julianna nodded, and I felt guilty for bringing up the topic. We headed north in silence, each in her own thoughts.

As for me, my thoughts turned toward Camp Half-Blood, and how I was going to explain my choice to Percy, Annabeth, and my other friends. Finally, as the sun dyed the western sky red, we set up camp, ate a quick dinner of chicken, and I burrowed into my sleeping bag, I fell into a deep sleep, though, for demigods, sleep does not always mean rest.

**There's the chappie! Good hunting!**

**-HunterofArtemis01**


	3. Chapter 3

Dec. 1

Dear diary,

Last night, I dreamed of Apollo. He was suspended in midair, in Olympus, in the throne room. Zeus paced the throne room, muttering to himself.

"Third time," he growled. "Third time I'm turning Apollo into a mortal. I must make sure he learns his lesson this time. How?" at this point, Zeus' brain looked about to overheat. He's the kind of guy that thunders around and doesn't think a lot. (Don't tell him I said that!)

"Athena!" he yelled, electricity crackling through his beard. In a flash of bright light, Athena appeared next to Zeus. She nodded her head slightly. "Father."

"Apollo has twice been stripped of immortality. This will be his third. Tell me, how will it be, that he learns his lesson this time?"

"Father, it has come to my attention that all oracles have been captured during the time in which Apollo was on Delos. Perhaps, it would be wise if he would free them from their captors' grasp before attaining godhood once more, though, of course, we will need a vote with the council before issuing such a massive quest." Athena said, with a small, almost inaudible sigh.

"Very well, I will consider your advice." in a flash of lightning, Zeus disappeared, leaving Athena and a suspended Apollo in the throne room.

Athena sighed. "For your sake, Apollo, I hope he doesn't think too hard." with that, she disappeared, and my dream changed.

Percy, I thought. Straight to Percy. My dream self entered an apartment which I recognised. Percy's home. I grinned when I saw Annabeth sleeping on Percy's lap, over a pile of homework. Percy was drooling, again. That's why I never allowed him on my bunk.

"Hey, lovebirds!" I called. Annabeth jerked awake, then focused on me.

"hi, Abby," she said, her cheeks turning red. "I was, uh, helping Percy with his homework, and we fell asleep."

I raised my eyebrows playfully. "Are you sure?" I loved teasing them, especially since they were one of my OTPs, along with Frazel, Jasper, and Caleo.

If possible, Annabeth's face flushed even a brighter red. "Yes."

"W'as goin' on?" Percy sat up, bleary-eyed. "Oh, hey Abby."

"Hello to you to." I fidgeted, suddenly feeling nervous. "I, uh,"

"Tell us!" Percy grinned like a six-year-old.

"I, uh, I joined the Hunters," I blurted out. Percy looked startled. "Does that mean when you come to Camp you'll be in the Artemis cabin and not with me?" he pouted, giving me his infamous baby seal eyes.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth scolded, while laughing, swatting him on his arm. "That's cool!" she smiled. "You have to tell me about it! And tell Thalia 'hi' from me!"

"No prob. So, how's it going at Camp?" I asked

"Not bad, numbers are coming back up, but we're still trying to figure out ways to travel efficiently between camps," Annabeth informed me.

"And, we got Kym's shrine up. I hope she's happy," Percy muttered.

The scene was starting to fade around the edges, and I could feel myself edging toward consciousness. "Well, see you next time!" I grinned mischievously. "And don't forget to do your, ah, homework!" the duo turned crimson, scene was enveloped in darkness, and I woke up to a bucket of water over my head.

"Hey!" I sat bolt upright, completely dry. I willed the water to form a ball, and chase after Rachel, who was holding an empty bucket and running out of the tent. A faint splash sounded outside of the tent, and Rachel marched back in, soaking wet.

"To be fair, I did help her do it." Julianna grinned. I looked at her slyly. "You do know I'm a daughter of Poseidon, right? That means I don't get wet unless I want to." I snapped my fingers, and Rachel's clothes dried, and in turn, the moisture soaked into Julianna's clothing. She muttered a curse in ancient Greek.

I smirked. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I think I'll keep you wet, Jules." she muttered a few more curses at that.

"I wish you wouldn't keep speaking in ancient Greek." Rachel complained.

Julianna looked at her. "Certus. Melius est hoc- Sure. Is this better?"

"Please not Latin," I grumbled. "My mom almost had to strap me to a chair to make me learn that." being Chinese, I could understand learning Chinese. Living in Texas, I could understand learning Spanish (I'm still not fluent), I could easily learn ancient Greek, being a greek half-blood. But Latin? Even without dyslexia, it was literal torture to my brain.

"Yeah," Rachel agreed. "Just English, thank you very much."

I nodded. "Let's go." we broke camp, and continued our hunt for that damned fox.

**I know it's a shorter chapter, I'll try to get another one up soon. Good Hunting!**

**~HunterofArtemis01**

**P.S. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome!**


	4. Chapter 4

Dec. 21

Dear diary,

I am sorry for not writing earlier, but I will give you the highlights. On some days, when several groups of hunters met, we would have competitions or games (I wasn't allowed to compete in swimming), and Rachel almost won the archery competition against a daughter of Athena named Emma. I found out that Artemis was with the Hunters only part of the time, and was often on 'other business', which no one knew about.

On other occasions, we would practice shooting techniques and codes, such as 'formation Alpha' where everyone aimed their bows at the same angle and direction, or 'defence plan Thessalonica' in which you tried to 'rain arrows' down on the enemy. There are many others, but I will not be listing them in case this diary falls into the wrong hands.

So, back to today's happenings. If you didn't know, today was the winter solstice, so all of us Hunters joined up, and took a break from tracking that stupid fox. We had a hand-to-hand combat and archery tournament (I got second place to Thalia in hand-to-hand combat) then practiced tumbling and flips for fun, and because it's sometimes needed in combat. Awesome.

It ended when Artemis came down from Olympus with news. She beckoned to Thalia and the two entered Artemis' tent. Everyone was deathly still. A minute later, Thalia poked her head out of the tent and called for Sidney, Jasmine, and Julianna to join them. If there was tension before, everyone was so much more so, and I felt I could cut it with a knife.

After what felt like days later, the five emerged from the tent. Immediately, voices exploded, questions flying through the air. _What happened? Don't tell me there's another war! What are we doing now?_ A thunderclap sounded, apparently from Thalia who is the daughter of the god of thunder after all, and everyone stopped talking, because no one wants to see Thalia mad at you.

"Hunters!" Artemis said, her voice rolling over the camp. "Apollo is to be cast to earth as a mortal in just a few weeks, and I have been forbidden from communicating with you for that time. However, if somehow, by chance, of course, you happened to meet him, and helped him like any other demigod…" she smiled slyly. "That would be very welcome help. On another note, who would like to challenge these three?" she gestured at Julianna, Sidney, and Jasmine. Rachel had told me that the three 'best' positions could only be challenged during the summer and winter solstice

"I'll be going," Rachel whispered in my ear.

"Well, good luck!" what I didn't tell her was that Thalia and I were going to have a show of powers in honor of Bianca di Angelo and Zoë Nightshade-the two who had died rescuing Artemis from Atlas- and all the other Hunters that perished defending Manhattan, and in the Giant War, namely against Orion.

"Tonight I have released a rabbit into these woods," Artemis announced, Thalia on her right, as Lieutenant, her silver circlet gleaming in the moonlight, and three silver badges on a fur-covered stand on her left. "And as always, we will start with tracking. Our defender is Sidney, and challengers are Katherine, and Rachel. You know the rules. First to find and capture the rabbit wins the title. No tricks or magical objects are allowed, just use your skill. Ready, go!" and the three were off, disappearing into the trees and undergrowth.

An hour or so later, someone was sighted running toward us. It was Madison, cradling a small, white rabbit with silver eyes. Moments later, Rachel ran into the camp, followed closely by Sidney.

"Well done," Sidney said coldly.

"Good job, Sidney, Rachel," Madison nodded, with equal coldness.

"Back at ya," Rachel walked back to where Julianna and I were standing, watching Artemis hand Madison the badge.

"Better luck next time," I said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yes. You are a relatively new Hunter. Got to go!" Julianna jogged off for the healing competition.

After those two remaining competitions-Healing and Running, both of which were won by their defenders, I met Thalia a little ways away from the camp.

"Ready?" she asked

"Sure. Never did anything like this before though. I'll probably be out for a week after this show," I grinned, flexing my fingers and feeling a small, familiar tug in my gut.

"Same. Well, here we go!" I whistled, and Milky Way and Guido landed in front of us. Thalia got on Guido, and I on Milky. We took off, hovering above a lake, and Thalia made a small storm cloud in between the two of us. I willed the rain to form words.

_In honor of Zoë Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo who died rescuing Lady Artemis from the Titan Atlas_

_Also in the memory of all of our sisters who perished in the Battle of Manhattan and in the Giant War_

Thalia's storm cloud broke, disappearing along with my words. I summoned water from the lake, forming the face of Bianca di Angelo. Thalia manipulated the sound waves, and Bianca di Angelo's last words were heard in her voice; "_If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry."_ I looked over a Thalia. She was crying silently, silvery tears falling from her face.

"I should have gone," she murmured. "She was so young… only twelve."

I gulped, swallowing tears of my own. "Ready?"

Thalia nodded. "Ready."

I slowly formed the lake water from Bianca's face into Zoë Nightshade's, while her voice sounded and resounded through the still night air. "_Stars. I can see the stars again, my lady."_ I almost fell off Milky Way right there. Even though I'd hadn't gone on that quest myself, I was there at Camp when the Hunters were there. And I remembered saying some harsh things to Zoë, and now, I too was a Hunter. And we could have been sisters.

I took several deep breaths, trying to regain my balance and finish the performance. I locked eyes with Thalia's own pained ones, and we nodded in unison. Together, we formed a small storm, but instead of rain, words of water fell, the names of all of the fallen Hunters in the Titan and Giant war.

_In remembrance of_

_Phoebe_

_Celyn_

_Naomi_

_Skye_

_Emma_

_Olivia_

_Ava_

_Isabella_

_Sophia_

The list went on, punctuated by the occasional outburst of emotion from below us. Finally, the list ended, and I promptly collapsed onto my pegasus' back. _Whoa there, boss. _Milky Way adjusted so that I wouldn't fall off of her.

"Ugh. Never tried to use that much power at once," I groaned, clutching her mane. On my right, Thalia wiped a tear from her cheek, looking physically and emotionally drained. I managed to sit up as we landed, vaguely noticing the tears falling freely from many of my sisters' faces, thanking Thalia and I for the show.

I stumbled to my sleeping bag and promptly collapsed, passing out completely for forty-eight hours.


	5. Chapter 5

**I know I haven't updated for a while, but with school starting... yea. I'm trying to balance writing with my homework, and (obviously) my demigod life. But I got the chappie done!**

Dec. 22

Dear Diary,

I think I'll become a professional storyteller one of these days, telling the story of my life to some idiots. [Hey! Go away, Rachel. No reading private property!]

"She's been out for two days now," I heard someone grumble right next to me.

"Well, Thalia woke up last night, and she said that we weren't moving until she wakes up." I head Rachel reply.

"Hi," I sat up slowly, blinking in the light. "How long was I out?"

"Two days, thirty-three minutes, and ten seconds." a girl with blond hair and stormy grey eyes, a daughter of Athena if I ever knew one. "FYI, I'm Melody, daughter of Athena." Ha! Knew it.

"Hi. I'm Abigail, but I go by Abby. I'm a daughter of Poseidon, and a legacy of Aphrodite."

"I thought there was a pact for the Big Three not to have children up until after the Titan War. How old are you?" Melody asked.

"Thirteen."

"Then does that mean that Poseidon broke the vow twice?"

"Yes and no," I replied. "It's a long story."

"Tell us the story later," Rachel spoke up. "Thalia decided that we should pay a visit to Camp Half-Blood then Camp Jupiter. And she wants you to help her contact several people," she fake pouted. " I think Thalia wants you to kinda be her 'personal assistant' kinda thing."

I reluctantly got out of my comfy sleeping bag and stretched. "Got it," I laced up my combat boots. "Good thing too, 'cause I have several things I needed to pick up from cabin 3."

I met Thalia right outside of the camp, standing next to the lake, fingering a golden _drachma_. I touched her shoulder lightly and barely avoided getting judo flipped.

"Gods," I grumbled. "Watch it."

"Sorry. You surprised me," Thalia faced me, a smirk playing on her lips.

I gave her my own signature smirk, devilish, but charming, according to the various boys that had tried to flirt with me. "Wassup, then, if you weren't trying to judo throw me?"

"I need you to help me send these Iris messages. I can't seem to find a rainbow right now, so maybe…?"

I sighed and held out my hands. The water surged up and formed a light mist, the sunlight filtering through and breaking into multi-colored light.

"O Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Chiron, at Camp Half-Blood." Thalia tossed the _drachma _into the rainbow. It shimmered and disappeared and the rainbow shimmered, as usual, but suddenly the rainbow disappeared, and the _drachma_ appeared and fell into the lake.

Thalia growled a curse in ancient greek. "For the millionth time. Why can't I send _anything_ to _anyone_ outside of my Hunters?" she snarled irritably.

I backed up a step. As I may have written earlier, no one wants to be around Thalia when she's mad.

"Never mind. We'll just try again later. I have a question. Did Poseidon break the oath twice by siring you? Because it doesn't seem like something he would do twice. Plus, I saw you at Camp Half-Blood several times, but you were an Aphrodite camper, but I never got to ask."

I sighed. "Rachel and, what's her name? oh right. Melody just asked me earlier. How about I just tell y'all at the same time? Or maybe I should just tell the whole of the Hunters of Artemis so people don't keep asking m.," I said sarcastically at the end.

"Why not?" Thalia grinned. "Julianna, Madison, and Jasmine are in the tent. You can tell all four of us the story."

Rolling my eyes, I gave my best glare, which, I'd admit, wasn't very good by demigod standards. "Do you not understand sarcasm?" I retorted.

"Nope. Let's go. You can invite Rachel and Melody if you want," she touched my arm and zapped me, just as a warning.

I looked at her. She had that 'I'm not going to back down' look that I learned not to underestimate. Sighing, I found Rachel and Melody who were practicing target practice.

"Come on, I'll tell you the story," I muttered.

Melody whooped, causing several Hunters to look at her. Rachel groaned and handed her five _drachmas_. "Told you Thalia would convince her," Melody smirked at Rachel, who stuck out her tongue.

"Wait. You guys were _planning_ this with Thalia?" I tried, again, to conjure a death glare. Fail.

"Yup," Rachel said. "Apparently Athena always has a plan."

"Helps that you're just as much as a Kelp Face as that Percy Jackson, or whatever Thalia calls him," Melody raised an eyebrow at me.

"First off, it's Kelp Head, not Kelp Face. Second, he has his nickname because he's totally oblivious, and is completely clueless about girls, even Annabeth. I don't think I fit into those categories."

"Fine. I guess I'll call you Seaweed Brain."

"Percy got that one too."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll come up with a good one for you."

"Guys, the tent's over here," Rachel stood by the tent with a huge grin on her face. "Or are you two too busy flirting?"

"Holy Zeus, Rachel, calm down. We're just talking." I punched lightly on the shoulder as I entered the tent, my eyes adjusting to the dim light. I made out the forms of Julianna, Madison, and Jasmine, all who wore a slight smirk on their faces. Thalia turned, the circlet marking her as Artemis' Lieutenant flashing.

"Sit," she gestured toward several seats, sitting down in one herself. "Now that you're here, you can tell us your story."

"Perhaps, Thalia Grace, but then each of you must tell the others about yourselves something that we didn't know," I knew they wanted to hear my story, but that didn't mean that I had to stay in the dark about them.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that later," Thalia growled at me, while Melody studied me with interest.

"Fine," she said, at last. "Maybe you're not as brainless as I thought you were at first." Melody leaned forward on her seat. "So why don't you begin?"

**I finally get to get the backstory out! Ha! Anyways, comment, like, review, etc. **

**Good Hunting!**

**~ Hunter of Artemis 01**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry Guys. I know I'm kinda late on the update. One reason. SCHOOL.**

Dec. 22.

Part two

"So," I crossed my legs and leaned back in my chair. "Remember how I said that Poseidon kinda broke the oath, but kinda didn't?" Rachel and Melody nodded.

"Melody, you're smart. What's the essence, the point of the oath that the Big Three made after World War two?"

She huffed. "They made the oath because their children were too strong, and they wanted to prevent a World War three. That was the whole point until Zeus and Poseidon broke it."

"Good job! You deserve a cookie!" I said with false cheerfulness. "Unfortunately, I don't have any with me, much less blue ones, which are much superior. Um, where was I?" Don't blame me. I still have ADHD.

"Oh, yes. So I'm not technically Poseidon's kid. I'm actually a great-granddaughter of Aphrodite."

"Then how did you get your powers?" Rachel interrupted me.

"I was blessed," I responded bluntly. Dead silence.

"My mom didn't want to have an affair with Poseidon, because she knew about the oath. So Poseidon said that if and when she had children, he would adopt him or her, namely me.

"So when I was, like, two, Poseidon blessed me with all the powers but that resulted in me having an aura like a child of the Big Three. So when I was seven, my mom brought me to Camp Half-Blood and told me to introduce myself to Chiron as a daughter of Aphrodite.

"So I stayed in cabin 10 until after the Titan War, after Percy persuaded the gods to quit it with the oath. Then Poseidon claimed me. And I was about to challenge Drew for head counselor. So yeah. Story of my life. How about you, Melody?"

Melody scratched her ear. Or she looked like she was scratching her ear. "What is that?" Melody froze, and Thalia busted out laughing. "Oh, she found out! In the first five minutes! Ha!" she held out her hand, and Jasmine dropped a drachma into her hand.

"Is that a recording device?" I stood up and faced Melody. "I thought this conversation was supposed to be private, miss smartypants."

Melody jumped to her feet. "I never said that, or anyone else, for that matter. So you were just making assumptions instead of basing your thoughts on real facts."

"Well, there's something called _implied_. If you didn't know." I snarled, my temper rising. Our faces were inches apart, our eyes were locked, each daring the other to break their gaze.

"Calm down!" Thalia commanded and zapped the two of us.

"Fine. But I wish you wouldn't be so bossy," I muttered under my breath. Apparently, inherited demigod rivalries aren't canceled out by all of us being Hunters.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside of the tent. "What's that?" Julianna yelled, drawing her bow and dashing out of the tent. The rest of us followed, Thalia, Melody and I sent looks at each other that clearly meant, _we're talking about this later. _

I rushed toward the action, where two large humanoids held two hostages each. "Germani," someone whispered next to me. "I thought they were extinct." then someone else stepped forward.

"Hunters," he spoke, "I am Lityserses. I have come to bargain for the imperial household of the emperor Commodus. Here is our offer. You provide us with information and gladiators for the arena, and we won't kill you all." he leered at us, the scars on his face twisting and contorting. "You do know my nickname is the Reaper of Men. But I think I can change that to 'Reaper of Very Annoying Girls'." he drew his sword and let the tip hover right between one of the captives' eyes.

"Ten seconds. Or I'll take these two and kill the rest of you." he started counting.

"Ten."

Dead silence.

"Nine."

"Eight."

"Seven."

No one moved. I stepped forward. All eyes turned toward me, making me feel tiny and insignificant. I took a deep breath. "Lityerses. First your father's tool. Now, you're finally rid of him, and you turn around and run straight to another master. Seems you can't really think for yourself can you?"

Lit growled and pointed his sword at me. In response, I drew my two hunting knives. "Let them go." I glanced at Thalia, trying to convey a message to her.

"Little girl. Do you think you can beat me? I have been fighting for millennia." our blades clashed, silver against bronze, and I immediately knew how this duel would end.

"Get them," I grunted into my comm, praying that someone had theirs activated. Lit's blade sliced at me, I backed up, the sword barely missing my face. Thrust, parry, duck, roll, counter attack. A deadly dance, designed to kill the weaker. The Germani watched us, unaware of the few Hunters sneaking up behind them.

A grunt, and twin piles of dust. The two Hunters were free. Lityerses and I, locked in battle. Parry, thrust, counter attack. Bronze and silver blades, clashing and gleaming in the light of the setting sun. I was vaguely aware that if I hadn't received the blessing from Artemis I would have already been shredded. Shouting. The sound of arrows being nocked. Too late, I realized Liyerses' plan. I was being drawn into the bushes.

I was growing weak. Lit landed a nasty cut on my arm. I yelped. the pain was slow in coming. My fingers slipped from the handle of my knives. I could feel myself being dragged off to somewhere. Then, blackness.

**There you go! I will try to update more often, but no guarantees. **

**Good Hunting!**

**~Hunter of Artemis**


	7. Chapter 7

Dec 24

Dear Diary,

It's Christmas Eve today. It's cold, here in Indiana. You might be wondering how I have you with me right now. The answer is simple. They can't and didn't take my pack off of me. You might remember that it disappears when I don't need it. And my diary was in it.

I woke up this morning tied to a chair, ropes tying me down at the wrists and ankles. My arm throbbed. Curse them, my captors hadn't even bothered to bandage my arm. I opened my eyes slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the light. The room was blindingly white, with a small cabinet in one corner. I did not want to see what was in there.

In the middle of the room, right in front of me was a desk, a dark brown. This bothered me, not just because the color coordination was horrendous, but also because, on closer inspection, there were dark stains on it, which was more than mildly disconcerting. A door creaked behind my back. I forced myself to stay calm. I muttered a curse under my breath when I saw who it was.

Lityerses regarded me coldly. I glared right back at him. He was wearing a shirt with the word Cornhusker, with, for some reason, I found amusing.

"Cornhusker?" I asked, without thinking.

Immediately, the side of my face exploded with pain. "Shut up, you filthy girl," Lit snarled. "Do not speak to your superiors unless spoken to."

I wanted so bad to tell him that he wasn't my superior and that he was rather old-fashioned, but for the sake of my face, I kept my mouth shut.

Lityerses smirked. "Glad you've caught on so quickly. So answer my question. Where is the Waystation?"

I blinked. "Waystation?"

"Answer the question, girl! Where is the Waystation?"

"I told you, I don't know where the effing Waystation is!"

For a split second, I saw Lit's fist coming for my face. Before I could curse, or even flinch, I heard a nasty pop and blood was streaming out of my nose, staining my shirt. A moment later, I felt another blow to my jaw, then to the side of my head, both immediately bruising and starting to swell. My head throbbed. My vision blurred and turned a slight shade of yellow.

"Stop." the order came, and for a moment, I didn't quite comprehend what that meant. It was a new voice, a female one. "We need her alive, you know. You can leave now. I'll take her to her cell," the voice continued as the speaker stepped into view. She was small, petite, with long, wavy auburn hair and hypnotizing sapphire-green eyes.

"I'll take it from here," she said authoritatively.

"Are you sure you can handle her, Audrey?" Lit asked. "She's dangerous and a Hunter of Artemis."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "I'm armed. She's not. Plus, she's like, half-conscious and about as dangerous as a bunny."

Lit snorted. "Bunnies kick. But take her if you want. Nothing in for you in her." Oh boy. I so wanted to smash him with a wave or something, but I probably couldn't even summon a drop of water right then.

Lit left to who-knows-where, and the moment they left Audrey slashed through the ropes binding my hands, arms, and legs. I tried to stand and promptly collapsed, my vision shifting from yellow to a sickly shade of green.

"Whoa there. Come on. If we're going to get you out of here you need to be able to stand." Audrey muttered, as much as to herself as to me.

"Sorry, but I just got beat up by that… that..." for once, I couldn't think of a heavy enough insult to use on someone.

"Oh my gods, I'm trying to get us out of here, okay? Now unless you have any other plans, shut up," she sighed.

I shut up. Audrey reached into her pocket and pulled out a flask of nectar. "This is going to hurt." without waiting for me to answer, she dumped the nectar over my head. It stung. A lot. But it was worth it, because in a few seconds, I could see clearly, and my head seemed to be returning to normal proportions.

"Here. Eat this." she handed me a chunk of ambrosia, which I accepted and ate. It tasted like the barbeque from Camp Half-Blood, sweet and spicy. It reminded me of when I had first arrived at Camp, the first place that felt truly like home. My mom had tried her best, but between her stretched relationship between her and my mortal dad, constant and increased monster attacks, due to my being a demigod, and finances, it had never felt _right_. I sighed at my nose made a small cracking noise and set itself.

"Good? Let's go," Audrey helped me up and handed me a dagger.

"Er, I know this is weird, but why are you doing this?" I asked. For all I knew, this was a trap to get more info.

"Fine. I swear on the River Styx that I am not attempting to deceive you or lead you into a trap. And if anything of the above happens, it is without my approval," she said, not missing a beat. Thunder rumbled in the distance "I just want to get out of this place. It's awful. Happy?"

I nodded and gripped my dagger. "Let's go."

Audrey grabbed a length of rope. "I'm going to tie your hands. They'll be easy to break. There's a water channel behind the throne room that's the easiest and quickest way out. It's not ideal, but it's the best chance we've got." she wrapped the rope loosely around my wrists. "And this." she snapped her fingers, causing a cold feeling to drip down my face.

"Just some disguise," she explained. "Daughter of Trivia."

I nodded. "Let's go."

The first part of the plan without a hitch. Whenever we met someone or something and asked what we were doing, Audrey would tell them that she was transporting me to the cells. The more difficult part came when we neared a fork in the path.

"From here, we need to move fast. Take down anyone or anything. Left is the cells. Right is the throne room. The emperor is out at the gladiator's ring," Audrey hissed quickly and quietly in my ear. She quickly unwound the rope from around my wrists and motioned for me to put it in my pack. I did so, at the same time summoning my bow and quiver of arrows.

Audrey started off quickly at a light jog. The first demigod we met didn't even have time to start before Audrey slammed the hilt of her sword into his face, knocking him unconscious. The next time, we weren't so lucky. A chest-faced man managed to push a red alarm button before I shot it through the eye. Sirens sounded around us, and shouts were heard coming toward us.

"Run!" Audrey yelped, which was rather unnecessary seeing that we were already at an all-out sprint toward a set of large, ornate doors covered in gold.

"Total overkill," I muttered, eyeing the doors distastefully. Audrey nodded but didn't answer. She placed her hand on the doors, muttering words which I assumed were spells and incantations. A bead of sweat ran down her face, despite the cool temperatures. The voices were getting closer. I could see the first of the guards approaching, a demigod. I hesitated for a moment, then shot an arrow at him, into his helmet. He dropped like a stone. I prayed to Artemis that I hadn't killed him.

Finally, Audrey managed to get the door open. "Over there," she gasped, her face shining with sweat and an unhealthy shade of yellow. I helped her up, shouldering my bow and ran as fast as I could toward the back of the throne room with Audrey hobbling next to me. Another demigod came toward us. My strength was fading fast, and Audrey wasn't getting any lighter.

She sagged against me, ragged breaths escaping her lips. Leaning her against one of the pillars, I grabbed the dagger she had given me earlier and threw it as hard as I could at the approaching demigod, going right through the eyehole of his helmet. I choked back a sob. I hated taking any human life, anytime, under any circumstance.

Heaving Audrey back to her feet, we continued down the length of the room. Five feet. Four. More shouts behind us. I felt a spear pierce my leg, but I barely registered the pain through my fatigue. Audrey didn't look any better. In fact, she looked worse. Two more feet. I turned my head to glance at our pursuers. Too many. Audrey collapsed, her legs giving out, bringing me down with her.

"Go. Leave me," she rasped. I shook my head. "No. Not happening." I held out my hands and with the last of my strength, summoned a wall of water, and froze it, several feet thick, on which several demigods crashed into, making the ice shake and start to crack.

"Come on," I muttered, shaking Audrey's shoulder. I dug out a flask of nectar and poured some down her throat. Her eyes fluttered open. "Thanks." I nodded and took a sip of the nectar myself. Feeling a bit more energized, I saw that my ice wall was starting to fracture as the various monsters and demigods pounded on it. We struggled to our feet and hobbled over to the water channel. The ice splintered and broke, ice flying everywhere like glass. But it was too late. I had gotten in the channel and the water was like caffeine to my tired body. I felt awake, aware. I started to bombard the guards with waves of water, forcing the demigods to retreat and the monsters to dissolve.

Audrey clambered into the water channel, shivering from the cold water. I surrounded her with a layer of air, which would hopefully keep her a bit warmer. We hurried further into the tunnel, leaving the guards behind. Just to be safe though, I made another wall of ice behind us.

"That was some serious butt-kicking you did back there," Audrey commented. I shrugged. "Thanks."

"Huh. I thought I was going to be getting you out when in reality, you were saving my sorry ass."

I gave her a wry grin. "That's what friends do, right?"

She shrugged. "I never had any friends. Feels weird to be having one."

I sighed. "Well, we should get to Camp Jupiter first, then… yeah."

"Yeah what?"

"Yeah-I-don't-really-know-what-I-should-do-after-that, yeah."

Audrey sighed. "Well, one step at a time, yes?" I nodded the affirmative.

"You know what?" I said after five minutes of wading through the water. "This is stupid." I grabbed Audrey's arm and used the water to propel us through the tunnel, out into the canal, and on dry land in a matter of seconds.

"Sweet," Audrey said as I dried her off. "Now let's get out of here. If the guards aren't securing a perimeter of one thousand feet right now, I'm a faun."

I nodded, trusting Audrey to know what she was doing. Unfortunately, my hopes were instantly crushed.

"Hey, you _do_ know where the Waystation is, right?"

"Why does everyone think I know where this Waystation is?" I sighed. "No, I don't, so if you were planning on going there, then we're going to go to plan B."

One look at Audrey told me that that had been her original plan and that she did not, in fact, have a plan B.

Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted behind us, "Put your weapons down and place your hands on your head! You are under arrest by order of the emperor Commodus."

**Yay! Finally got a chappie done! I must have re-written this chapter four times! Well, school starts tomorrow (for me), but I ****_will_**** try to get some writing done. As always, reviews and criticism are welcome.**

**Good hunting!**

**~ Hunter of Artemis**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay! Quick update!**

Dec. 24.

Part two.

"Hey Mark," Audrey said unconcernedly, turning around. "I didn't think your loyalty would be bought so easily."

I looked at Mark. He stared back. Rude.

"Is this the Hunter?" he asked. "You told me you hated any Greek demigod that. Now you're helping a Greek prisoner escape while committing treason and stealing weapons. And you accuse me of having easily-bought loyalty."

"I know you," I muttered, half to myself. "You're one of those guys that went over to the Titans during the second Titan War. Son of…"

"Nemesis."

"Yeah, that's right. But you're a Greek Demigod. Why are you with a Roman emperor?"

He snorted. "I believe in revenge and balance. You Greeks dumped all the minor gods' children, and you didn't even bother with us until it was clear that if you didn't give us some respect, that we could and would overpower you. Then you give us some cabins and try to pretend you never ignored us."

"Mark," Audrey started.

"I know," I interrupted her. "I know we ignored you, and I'm not trying to just pretend it never happened. But we did the best we could to make amends. We treat you as equals. Do you not know that Jason Grace himself vowed to represent every single god and goddess, no matter how minor, at Temple Hill?" I wrinkled my nose. "Great. Now I sound like some senator running for office. I've definitely spent too much time around those Athena kids," I muttered to myself.

Audrey gave a small snort of laughter. Even Mark's mouth twitched, though I may have imagined it.

"So, anyways," Audrey said, "either you come with us, or you let us go."

Mark sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't let you go. Audrey, please. Don't make me do this."

Audrey's mouth quirked. "You know that sounds so cliche, right? But as I was going to say, 'sorry about this.'" quick as lightning, she drew her sword and slammed the hilt into his forehead. You could practically see Mark's eyes vibrating as he crumpled to the ground. Audrey sighed. "I really love you, dummy. But sometimes, you're just so dense." she knelt and kissed him. I quickly looked away.

"Not a word," she warned. "Not a word."

I couldn't help but give her a teasing grin. "Suuuure." she gave me a withering glare. "Fine. fine."

"We've wasted enough time already," she said briskly, trying to hide bright red cheeks. "We need to get moving."

"Uh huh. Do you have, like any wilderness around here? Like woods or something?" I asked.

"Uh, we have some wooded areas in the outskirts, but if you want proper cover we'll need a few hours' drive in any direction."

"'Kay. Just get us to some more wild area than downtown Indianapolis."

Audrey stood, brushing her hand against Mark's. "Right." she said, ignoring my smirk. "This way."

We made our way across Indianapolis, occasionally skirting around search parties, and finally came to a set of train tracks. On either side were some wooded areas, decorated with plastic bags and other junk.

"You and I have very different definitions of the word 'wilderness'." I mumbled. Audrey ignored me.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked, an hour or two later, and when we were into a proper forest.

I shrugged. "I guess we're going to Camp Jupiter first. Everything in between? I dunno. I have a pegasus, we can ride, or something like that."

Audrey shook her head. "No. I don't know how to ride a horse. And I'm terrible with animals. They hate me. But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. There's this kind of travel thing called Apparating that we children of Trivia can do. But without my wand I'll probably pass out afterwards."

"Wait. You have wands?"

"Yes, but we don't need them. Wands let us do magic without using so much energy, but most of us rarely carry them due to the fact that they break really easily, and if you're carrying a sword and shield, you don't have another hand for a wand." she explained.

"Cool," I said. "But we should probably spend the night here. I, for one, don't want to be stranded likely to be dangerous off guard." Audrey agreed, muttering in the affirmative.

We found a shelter in the trees, and I started rummaging around in my backpack. I found a length of rope, and other climbing gear, some nectar and ambrosia, a bottle of silvery liquid I didn't recognize, a first aid kit, matches, an extra pair of jeans and a T-shirt, a flashlight, and finally, a small cloth the size of a pack of gum.

"Bingo!" I said, holding up the cloth and stuffing the rest of the stuff back into the backpack.

"What's that?" Audrey asked, wrinkling her nose.

I smirked. "It's a tent." I said, remembering saying the same thing to Julianna when I first joined the Hunters.

"No way."

"Yes way. Stand back." I tossed the cloth on the ground, and it immediately expanded into a 10x10 tent.

"Yes way," Audrey amended as the checked the tent out.

"Be my guest." I gestured to the entrance of the tent that now dominated our campsite. "I'll take first watch."

I could hear Audrey looking around the tent. A moment later, she came back out, holding a piece of paper. "I think this is for you," she said, handing me the silvery sheet of paper.

I took it, and groaned, reading it. It said,

_Too de-aktivate the tent, sa 'Thalia is the best'. _

_Yo'ure weelcom,_

_~ Thalia_

"You know," I muttered to myself, "I wonder how demigods get by with dyslexia."

"We don't," Audrey said drily. "But I do know that we half-bloods that can do magic just use translating spells. And it seems that Roman demigods' dyslexia is much less severe than the Greeks'." she raised an eyebrow, as if challenging me to a contest.

"Yeah," I shot back, not missing a beat, "but we Greeks have better demigod technology, while you Romans are still stuck with aqueducts. Those went out of style a few thousand years ago."

"The Romans conquered the Greeks."

"When the Roman empire fell, it was the Greek side that survived, not the Roman side."

Audrey wrinkled her nose. "Well, it's getting late. I should get some sleep. Don't be a hero and wake me up in a few hours."

I grinned. "As you wish."

I sat squatted down and started to build a fire, first arranging the leaves and small sticks in a pile, then gathered a large pile of dry wood. Using one of the matches, I started the fire, then, once I got a good fire going, I pulled out my diary (which I'm writing on right now), and started to write. The night is cold, but the fire is warm. Audrey snores in her sleeping bag. Great. Now I'm sounding like Apollo.

**As usual, please like, comment and subscribe, constructive criticism is always welcome. Also, who's already dying from school the first day back? *raises hand*. **

**Good Hunting!**

**~ HunterofArtemis01**


	9. Chapter 9

**I can't believe I'm actually updating instead of doing homework... though I probably shouldn't be too surprised :)**

Dec. 25

Dear Diary,

First off, Merry Christmas! Second, Audrey woke up at around 12:30 last night and demanded that I got some sleep. I was happy to oblige, and fell asleep, planning on sending a dream-message to my brother, Percy. I tried. I really tried. But I couldn't get anything through. It makes me wonder if that one I sent- was it only four days ago?- had even been real. But I didn't have time to worry about it because at around six in the morning Audrey was shaking me, telling me to get up. I may or may not have hit her in the face by accident, and I may or may not have given her the finger on purpose when she dragged me out of the sleeping bag.

Anyways, we packed up, which involved me mumbling (very reluctantly) "Thalia is the best", pocketing the tent-cloth and putting out the smoldering remains of the fire with a snap of my fingers, with caused a ball of water to drop on it, which may or may not have soaked Audrey, though it was _definitely _not on purpose. *cough, yeah right, cough*

Audrey motioned me to step right next to her. I did so reluctantly, seeing that she was still wet. She grabbed my arm with a bit more force than necessary and twisted. With a small _pop_ came the feeling of being squeezed through a rubber tube a little too small for us. With another _pop,_ we landed in a grassy field. On my right was a busy highway, and on the left was Oakland.

I whistled. "Holy Zeus. I'd hate to admit it, but your apparating shenanigans are actually kinda impressive. We're already really near Camp Jupiter."

"Good to know," Audrey slurred before collapsing and starting to snore even louder than last night.

"What the Hades?" I muttered under my breath. "Couldn't you wait five more frickin' minutes to pass out?" I hauled her up and started carrying her to the general direction of Camp Jupiter, through Berkley Hills. Within ten minutes I was panting and sweating. Despite her diminutive size and slim form, Audrey was quite heavy.

I'm afraid I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings. I had almost walked through the Lare before I realized he was there.

He muttered a curse in Latin that I understood enough to catch the gist of and the meaning of which I will definitely not share.

"Salve, Lare of Rome," I greeted him formally, though I really _really_ wanted to swear back at him. But Lares are very formal _people? Undead people?_ and they could hold grudges for millennia. And I didn't want this one to hate me since I desperately needed to get to Camp Jupiter, and Audrey definitely wasn't getting lighter.

"Salve, O stranger," he replied, somewhat grudgingly. "You speak Latin well, though your aura is not Roman."

"Thank you. I will tell you the truth. I am not a Roman. But this demigod here," I nudged Audrey, who was starting to stir, "is a Roman child of Trivia. She has recently helped me escape from the emperor Commodus and hating his household, she came with me."

That hit a nerve with the Lare. "Very well. Come with me." he led me through the hills and after a little, we met a large grey wolf. By this time, Audrey was well enough to walk by herself.

"Good luck, stranger," the Lare muttered to us before disappearing.

The wolf flicked its' ears expectantly. I could read enough of Wolf, from being in the Hunters of Artemis (Did I not tell you that we have wolves? Yeah, we do. In fact, Rachel has three) to figure out that it wasn't feeling very nice, and that if we didn't impress it, she would have us for dinner. (Yeah. It was a she.)

I cocked me head to one side, asking a question. In reply, the wolf turned and trotted off into the semi-darkness.

"That is freaky," Audrey whispered to me.

I shrugged. "It's quite the intricate language and society. Just one hint, when we meet Lupa, act strong. I don't care if you bluff, but act strong. Lupa doesn't tolerate weakness in her pack."

Audrey nodded, looking quite nervous. "How do you know so much though? I mean, it's not like you ever joined Camp Jupiter."

"Well, at Camp Half-Blood, there's quite a bit of gossip going around all the time, and if you can sort out the myth from the real stuff, you can get a lot of information."

We continued on in silence, following the soft smudge of grey that was the wolf. Finally, she stopped and let out a call, a long, mournful sound, echoing around the hills. More wolves appeared, grey smudges in a darker canvas of night. Last, came Lupa. The Alpha. The leader. She sniffed the air and stepped daintily into the clearing we were standing in.

Her body language indicated a challenge, a test. So when she looked at me, I caught her gaze and held it. A minute later, she gave a small, but slightly impressed, flick of her tail. Lupa turned, walking slowly, indicated we were to follow.

Suddenly, she turned, teeth bared. The other wolves in the pack did the same. Instantly, Audrey had her sword out, and I had my bow loaded. Honestly, if the wolves had decided to attack, I don't know what I would have done, seeing that Lupa was technically a goddess, and that rule all demigods learn; don't piss off any god in any shape form or size.

Fortunately, it seemed like it was just another test. "Don't lower your guard," I whispered to Audrey.

"Just figured that out?" she hissed back, though with a teasing tone.

"You know what? Just hope that Lupa doesn't deem us unworthy and either kick us out or kill us."

"Good idea."

**So, that's the chappie! You know the drill. Like, comment, and subscribe for more reading material!**

**Good Hunting!**

**~Hunter of Artemis 01**


	10. Chapter 10

**The new chappie! **

Dec. 31

Dear Diary,

It's been a few days since I last wrote, but I've been busy. That first night with Lupa's pack, I talked to her, told our story, since I got captured by Lityerses. When she heard I was Greek, she said that I wasn't supposed to go through her training, though Percy was an exception. (He always is.) She sent me off in the morning, but Audrey had to stay with the pack as they started toward the Wolf House. By noon, I made it to Camp Jupiter, and had quite a time explaining to Reyna and Frank what I was doing in California. I was given a room with Bombilo, the two-headed barista. (BTW, he has _really_ good chai lattes.)

Anyways, this morning, Frank and I were talking in one of the back rooms of the principia, being pretty much the only two Chinese in Camp Jupiter. We were discussing Chinese myths and how that might affect _our_ world, since Annabeth and Percy had encountered a psycho Egyptian dude that was going to combine Greek and Egyptian magic only a month or two ago.

"Well, in Chinese mythology, you could learn to shapeshift, even if you were a regular mortal. Anyone who had the will could perform magic," I said.

"True. That makes me feel _so_ much more special," Frank replied. He seemed to have grown into his ruggedness a bit better. Looked a bit more approachable then when I saw him off the Argo II. I pushed the onslaught of memories back. Half of my group of friends had died during that battle. My boyfriend had died of blood loss soon after. When that happened, I promised myself never to fall in love with anyone again, to honor his memory. I know it sounds really cheesy, but I intended to keep it.

"Are you okay?" Frank nudged me. I nodded, though I definitely did _not_ feel okay. I felt like curling up into a ball and hiding under a rock forever. Maybe with a side of screaming and crying.

"Yeah. Just… remembering." I muttered. Frank's expression turned wistful and sad.

"You know, as a leader, I can't show weakness. But just so you know, I think about them all the time. Especially Leo. I spent half out time together disliking him. When I got over that, he still bothered me. But, you know, if he shows up, if he managed to take the potion, I'll forgive him for that. But I'll still punch him in the face first."

"Hey, who broke Frank?" someone said behind me. I whirled and automatically tried to judo-flip whoever it was. But before I could do anything, my wrist was caught and my arm wrenched behind my back.

"Someone's touchy today," Reyna commented. I wrenched my arm out of her grasp. "I don't like being surprised, Arellano."

"Nuh uh. You are not using my last name," she said warningly. "I don't know who told you it, but they're not going to like it when I find out." her posture resembled one of power and royalty. I could tell why she had been elected praetor. She _radiated_ leadership. But me being me, I refused to be wowed. Living under the shadow of the famous Percy Jackson had taught me that much. I mean, I loved him and all that, but it was quite frustrating sometimes.

I crossed my arms. "Fine. Whatever." she scowled at me. I didn't say anything.

She sighed. "Frank, we need you at war games tonight. I think the third cohort is planning on playing dirty. And Abby? Feel free to join." she gave us the tiniest of smiles and walked off, her purple praetor's cape billowing out behind her.

"You don't really care about authority, do you?" Frank mused as he pinned his praetor's cape back on. He had taken it off after he had tripped on it twice, then gotten tangled in it and almost fell on his face.

I gave him the tiniest of smirks. "Nope, unless they can vaporize me in an instant. In fact, the first day I got to Camp Half-Blood, I punched this guy in the face for calling me an Aphrodite weakling. And that was when I was seven."

"Well, around here, you can't really get away with that around here. So try not to punch anyone in the face outside of war games, okay?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Okay," I said flippantly.

Frank didn't say anything more. I guess he gave on me. Most people had given up on me with rules after the first forty-eight hours.

After roll call, which was quite intimidating, even after almost a week of it, and dinner (Dakota got high on Kool Aid and tried to kiss me. I slapped him across his face. It seemed to wake him up a bit), war games were about to begin. I was given a set of Roman armor, which I didn't bother with, seeing that I worked better without. I did accept the sword, though. It was a bit short, but after a few swings I figured it out.

I was assigned to the fourth cohort, which currently had the least amount of people.

"First, second, and third cohorts attacking, fourth and fifth defending. Reyna and I will be acting as referees. First to breach the defenses gets the Mural crown. You know the drill," Frank hollered. "Ave Romae!"

The legionnaires repeated the cheer and the fourth and fifth cohort entered the fort which we had built earlier this day. Yes, I actually did help build it. Still, I was amazed at the work we'd done in just one day. The fort was built on a pre-existing fort, wrecked by previous war games. Two kids, one from the fourth and one from the fifth cohort were assigned to the innermost, highest room of the fort, with the standards. The rest of us were spread out to cover all sides and all the defenses. I was assigned to the water cannons for obvious reasons. Close by was Hazel Levesque, a centurion in the fifth cohort, and one of the seven demigods who were on the Argo II. What surprised me was that she was my age, thirteen or fourteen.

"Hello," she said, seeing me.

"Hey," I returned the greeting. Awkward pause. "How's it like, being in charge of so many people older than you?" I asked.

She laughed softly. "Honestly, it's kinda awkward sometimes. But you know that you're stronger than them, that's why you're on top. They won't challenge that."

"It's also nice having your boyfriend be a praetor," I teased, smiling to show that I didn't mean it seriously.

"Yeah. Frank's really sweet. I heard you guys were talking earlier today?"

I nodded. "Just discussing Chinese mythology. Frank knows a lot about that stuff. Me, not so much. When my mom realized that I didn't have dyslexia, she got _really_ into my studies. And just a lot of fighting."

We studied the 1st and 2nd cohorts advancing in turtle formation. The third cohort had split in two. Frank had turned into a bald eagle, Reyna sat astride Guido, who had adopted her as his human last summer. The giant eagles hovered overhead, ready to catch any wounded demigods.

Apparently, the centurions had decided to send two of the cohorts straight at the gates, while the remaining cohort split into two to try and scale the walls.

"That's smart," Hazel muttered to herself, readying her _spatha_. "They have the main force at the front, where the fort is weakest. They hope that we will send more people there and leave the rest undefended. They probably have several even smaller groups in areas in the back," she explained.

"Wow," I muttered. "You Romans are so complicated."

"It works," she replied.

"Touché."

By this time the main force was swaying under the onslaught of scorpion ballista and other nasty surprises we had installed earlier that day. The two half-cohorts though, were practically ignored. Hazel barked an order in Latin and the other demigods readied the water cannons. We'd gone over the plan earlier. Hazel had this idea of shooting the water cannon, but having me add an extra _oomph_ to it, hopefully without exploding anything, like a certain son of Poseidon I could mention ;). The first time, it didn't work. I forced the water out too soon, and shards of the cannon rained everywhere. Thankfully, it didn't damage anything thanks to Hazel's trick of the Mist.

A few demigods glared at me. I gave them my best death glare. Gathering all my concentration and energy, I thrust out my hands just as the next cannon fired, plowing into the two cohort's _testudo_ formation. They broke apart, like a house of cards.

"Centurion!" a pink-haired girl raced up to us. "There's some people halfway up the west wall. More advancing on the east. What should we do?"

Hazel cursed. "Stick to the plan. Keep sentries patrolling the south side. There are probably smaller groups looking to get in from the back."

Pink-hair saluted crookedly. "Yes, centurion!" she raced off.

"That was Lavinia," Hazel said. "You go help them there. I'll be with the east. And don't kill anyone."

"Why does everyone think I'm going to kill someone?" I grumbled to the air, as I ran towards the east side of the fort.

"You're very snappy sometimes," a voice commented next to me. Kudos to me for not jumping two feet high and screaming like a little kid. Instead I said, "Hello."

A Lare appeared next to me. I recognized him as the one from the fifth cohort; Gaius Vitellius Reticulus. I'd met him a few days ago. "Hey," he said. "You're that Jackson kid's little sister, right?"

I scowled at him. "My name is Abby. Not 'Percy Jackson's little sister'." Yes, I know I wasn't supposed to offend Lares, but I hate being called Percy's little sister. Worst first impression ever. I loved Percy, really. But sometimes he was a lot to handle, what with him trashing his part of the cabin and being totally clueless and just the awe and respect he received from the other campers without him even realizing it.

"Sorry," I muttered after a moment of silence. Vitellius had disappeared, but I knew he was still there. "Just kinda sensitive about that."

I urged my legs into a faster run. The attackers had almost gotten halfway up the wall. The scorpion ballista and water cannons didn't work at close range. I opened my hand, palm up. Drawing moisture from the air, I formed a huge ball of water. The guy nearest to the top didn't even have time to curse before I knocked him and several other legionnaires off the ladder. His buddy below him screamed a few unflattering words at me. I swore right back at him.

The other legionnaires from the fourth and fifth cohorts had made a line of shields right at the edge of the battlements. I sighed. Of course the Romans wouldn't use bows and arrows. I unslung my bow and reached for an arrow, one of those blunt ones that wouldn't kill anyone, but would leave a nasty bruise.

"'Scuse me," I muttered to a random guy. I pushed past him and started shooting down some 3rd cohort legionnaires.

"Heads up!" someone yelled from below us.

"Bit late," I hollered back at him. Several of the people near me snickered.

My quiver emptied surprisingly fast. In a minute, it was empty. On the bright side, most of the guys climbing up had fallen off the ladders, which were being severed.

"Ha ha, suckers!" the guy next to me yelled. He turned to me. "Hey, babe, I'm free tomorrow afternoon. Meet me at the coffee shop? And by the way, I'm Noah."

I blinked. "Excuse me?" I thought I must have heard him wrong.

"You wanna go out?" he asked.

Someone whistled. I scowled at him. Another person muttered, "Dude, she's _waaaay_ out of your league."

Noah refused to back down. "I'll give you one chance," I muttered to him. "Tell everyone it was on a dare. Then I'll let it slide. If you don't…" I let my glare tell him the rest of the sentence. I hoped to get him out of my hair as soon as possible. There were already too many people watching.

He had the nerve to look hurt. "Of course it wasn't on a dare…" he didn't get to finish his sentence. I punched him in the face. "Don't _ever_ ask a Hunter out, you hear me?"

He cocked an eyebrow, despite the blood leaking from his nose. "Come on, babe…"

I decided he hadn't gotten the point. I kicked him in the crotch, propelling him off the side of battlements. A giant eagle snatched him out of the air.

"Okay," I muttered. "Show's over, night night, go away, yada yada yada." I glared at the small crowd. "No one's asking me out, unless you want an arrow up your _cloaca maxima_."

A girl came up to me. "Thanks for that," she said. "Noah, he's a pain in the ass. His family is really powerful, so he can get away with a lot." she explained. "Son of a bitch." she kept on muttering, calling him some rather unflattering names.

I looked over the battlements. A centurion I remembered as Larry shouted orders to his half of the third cohort. They wouldn't be getting in this way.

Half an hour later, Reyna signaled the end of the war games. The main force had made it into the fort, but hadn't gotten past the second line of defence we'd set up. After the debrief from Frank, who'd turned back into a human, we dispersed. I went up to Bomblio's spare room and got ready for bed. Tiredness washed over me, and the realm of Hypnos engulfed my mind in dreams.

**Aaaaand, that's the chappie! I don't even know how I got it on, with all the crazy stuff going on... but the usual; comment, follow review, et cetera.**

**Good hunting!**

**~ Hunter of Artemis 01**


	11. Chapter 11

**Just a word of warning for this chapter: there is one swear word. So if you don't want that, just skip the all capitalized bit.**

Jan. 5

Dear Diary,

I left Camp Jupiter a week ago, and I have been searching for the Hunters since. My comm had been broken back in Indiana when Lityerses had punched me. For an undead guy, be packed a mean punch. And I'd regularly gotten socked by Clarisse during martial arts training at Camp Half-Blood.

I was riding on Milky Way, over some state, Wyoming, I think? When I saw it, the Tessumian Fox, tearing at a carcass. I hoped it was a deer or something, and not an unfortunate demigod. Since the Tessumian Fox couldn't be trapped, we'd had a lot of trouble getting to it, seeing that we would have to make the kill while chasing the fox.

_Hey, Milky_, I said. _Just hover around here for a while, will you?_

Milky Way nickered. _No problem, boss. _I felt a little bad for bringing Milky Way all the way out here. We'd been traveling together for the past week, often with only a few hours of sleep. We were both worn out. But she'd insisted, so here we were.

An hour or so later, I caught a glimpse of silver whipping through the trees. I urged Milky Way into a dive and landed in front of a very surprised Thalia Grace.

"Er, hi," I said.

Thalia blinked. She stared. Then, finally, she seemed to find her voice. "ABIGAIL GAO! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? CHALLENGING THAT SON OF A BITCH TO A DUEL AND GETTING YOURSELF CAPTURED AND LEAVING US THINKING YOU WERE DEAD OR SOMETHING AND, And, and…" she trailed off and settled for punching me in the arm. Her two partners kept their distance. As I wrote before, no one wants to face down and angry Thalia, what with the black leather jacket and silver jewelry, along with the black eyeliner. She could easily be the best demigod I'd ever met at giving dirty looks, challenged only by Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King himself.

"Gah, you… you ηλίθιε!"

"Gee, thanks for calling me an idiot," I said sarcastically, once Thalia seemed to calm down a bit. Thalia smacked me again, but without any heat.

"Thals," a brunette tapped her shoulder. "What do you want to do now?"

"Abby can come with us for now," Thalia replied. "You don't have your comm anymore?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Here," she rummaged in her pack and tossed the small white device to me. I nodded my thanks.

Thalia tapped her comm and reported our coordinates to the other Hunters. The brunette scribbled a note. "Yo, Thals, should I add that Abby's here?"

Thalia gave me an evil grin. "Of course, Sidney. Can't wait to see the others' reactions when they see her."

"Go east," the other girl spoke. "We should check the mailbox on the way. It's only a minute or two from here."

Thalia nodded, her silver circlet glittering in her dark hair. "Why not?" she started jogging off. We followed.

"Hey," I said. "Does anyone know about this thing called a Waystation?" The question had been bugging me since Lityerses had mentioned it.

"The Waystation is in Indiana," Thalia said. "Emmie and Jo help us keep an eye on the list of unusual monster activity in that area." that opened up a lot more questions. But I had the feeling that if I asked all of them, we'd never finish. So instead, I nodded and kept my mouth shut (if you're wondering, it wasn't easy).

"It's quite a fascinating structure," Sidney supplied. "I've only been there twice, but it's almost like a living structure. And not in the Daedalus-labyrinth-I-want-to-kill-everyone kind of living. More friendly," she added.

"Oh," Sidney said suddenly. "Introductions. I'm Sidney. Daughter of Trivia. Hunter for… I don't really remember. Two hundred years?"

"Two hundred fifty-six," the other girl corrected. "Skye, by the way. I'm a legacy of Mars, but I'm also a daughter of Mnemosyne. I joined, one? Two thousand years ago? I remember it was something like one thousand five hundred thirty-seven years. Yeah, that's right. My name was originally Priscilla Atalanta" she said something that lasted almost thirty seconds. "So when English became more developed, and people kind of forgot how to speak ancient Greek, I changed it to Skye."

I blinked. "So you're both Greek and Roman."

"That's right."

"And a half-titan."

"Yep."

"So you're a Greco-Roman demi-titan, about one thousand, five hundred years old."

"Exactly."

I blinked again. I guess it wasn't the weirdest thing I'd heard of. But definitely up in the top twenty.

"You know Thalia," Sidney interrupted my brain-sorting. "Daughter of Zeus, the almost-child of the prophecy, et cetera."

I nodded. "Yep. Definitely. Heard she electrocuted my half-brother once. Is that true? 'Cause Percy keeps on trying to pretend it never happened."

Thalia smirked. "That's not a camp myth. It's very real. Very, very real."

I nodded. "Good to know," I said with pretend thoughtfulness.

"Guys, this way," Skye pointed. "Thalia, we should get the whole group together. Fan out ahead of the fox. Hopefully, we can kill it soon."

Thalia nodded. "Why not?" she pulled out a map. "We're here," she tapped a spot in Wyoming. "Fox is heading that way," she traced her finger down the map. She double-tapped the spot. A set of coordinates shimmered above the map. Sidney reported them to the rest of the Hunters.

"We're going to ride," Thalia informed us. "Too hard to get past the fox on foot."

"I thought you don't like heights," I said.

"Who told you about that?" Thalia wheeled around.

"Oh, come on. You know Percy talks in his sleep," I lied. He'd actually told me during a truth or dare game. But since I prefer my brother alive (even though it'd be funny to see Thalia yelling at my brother, who was almost a foot taller than her five foot two inches), I just fibbed, something I'd become quite good at over the years.

Sidney snickered. "_Boys_."

A bit later, Skye poked Thalia's shoulder. "Mailbox."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I _know._ I'm not _that_ bad at remembering stuff."

"That could be debated," Sidney countered.

"Like that time you managed to forget where you put your pen," Skye said.

"Or that time you lost your backpack," Sidney added.

"Fine," Thalia said finally. "Let's stop here," she offered, changing the subject. "Call the rest of the gang over. We should be about a day ahead of the fox. And the mailbox is right there."

Skye shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

In no time at all, the other groups of Hunters started to arrive. Some in pairs, or by themselves. Some came in groups of three.

"There aren't a lot of people," I commented to Thalia.

"No," she agreed. "We Hunters often go off on our own hunts, but we always, always stay with their tent-mates. But recently, since the Titan War, our numbers have dropped dramatically. We lost too many against Orion, and we lost several of our sisters while hunting our last major hunt…"

"The Lydian Drakon," Skye said.

"Yeah. We usually have at least twenty to thirty Hunters. Before the Titan War we had forty," Sidney added.

"But now," Thalia continued, "as you can see, our sisterhood has been reduced to no more than a dozen."

"Abigail Gao! What do you think you were doing?" a familiar voice yelled at me.

"Hey, Rachel! Whassup?" I grinned. Rachel emerged from the underbrush, twigs in her hair, and dried grass and leaves stuck to her clothes.

She tackled me with a bear hug. "Are you kidding? We thought you were dead, or worse!"

Julianna punched me in the arm and grinned. "We thought Thalia was going to explode!"

In no time, we had set up camp. Usually, there would be a fire at the center of the crescent, but we didn't want to drive the Tessumian Fox.

Rachel studied my face. "You look like you haven't slept properly for days. Do you not take moonwater?"

I blinked. It was true. I hadn't slept properly since Indiana. "What moonwater?" I asked.

"This," Rachel said, pulling out a canteen. I waited. I had the same canteen in my own pack. "Is moonwater." she poured some out into her hand. It looked like normal water, with something silvery, like mercury, mixed into it. "Just a sip gives a person the feeling of a good night's sleep and a good meal. It also makes you more alert."

"But you can't take it too often, or there could be some serious side effects," Julianna added. "It could make you extremely woozy, or just pass out. Also, it would make you feel as if you hadn't eaten in a week, along with an acute sense of thirst. So, like any other magical food or drink, don't overindulge."

"Good to know," I mumbled. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed, before either of you comes up with another clever idea to keep me awake, or better, get me a cup of proper Chinese green tea."

I grinned, crawled into the tent, and promptly passed out on my sleeping bag.

**Well, peeps, that's a wrap! Honestly, I don't even know how I'm writing in the state I'm in, but it's here! Blue cookies for everyone! As usual, constructive criticism is welcome, so please favorite & follow. And please, please, please. If you find any grammar mistakes, tell me! I'm a grammar freak.**

**Good hunting!**

**~ Hunter of Artemis 01**


	12. Chapter 12

**Oh my gods, I just realized this story has over one thousand views already! In celebration, this chapter is dedicated to Thunderwolf7226 for being the first to stick with me through this fic. I would also like to thank GRYFFINDOR123456 for agreeing to beta. So without further ado, here's the chappie!**

Jan. 5

Dear Diary,

I left Camp Jupiter a week ago, and I have been searching for the Hunters since. My comm had been broken back in Indiana when Lityerses had punched me. For an undead guy, be packed a mean punch. And I'd regularly gotten socked by Clarisse during martial arts training at Camp Half-Blood.

I was riding on Milky Way, over some state, Wyoming, I think? When I saw it, the Tessumian Fox, tearing at a carcass. I hoped it was a deer or something, and not an unfortunate demigod. Since the Tessumian Fox couldn't be trapped, we'd had a lot of trouble getting to it, seeing that we would have to make the kill while chasing the fox.

Hey, Milky, I said. Just hover around here for a while, will you?

Milky Way nickered. No problem, boss. I felt a little bad for bringing Milky Way all the way out here. We'd been traveling together for the past week, often with only a few hours of sleep. We were both worn out. But she'd insisted, so here we were.

An hour or so later, I caught a glimpse of silver whipping through the trees. I urged Milky Way into a dive and landed in front of a very surprised Thalia Grace.

"Er, hi," I said.

Thalia blinked. She stared. Then, finally, she seemed to find her voice. "ABIGAIL GAO! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? CHALLENGING THAT SON OF A BITCH TO A DUEL AND GETTING YOURSELF CAPTURED AND LEAVING US THINKING YOU WERE DEAD OR SOMETHING AND, And, and…" she trailed off and settled for punching me in the arm. Her two partners kept their distance. As I wrote before, no one wants to face down and angry Thalia, what with the black leather jacket and silver jewelry, along with the black eyeliner. She could easily be the best demigod I'd ever met at giving dirty looks, challenged only by Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King himself.

"Gah, you… you ηλίθιε!"

"Gee, thanks for calling me an idiot," I said sarcastically, once Thalia seemed to calm down a bit. Thalia smacked me again, but without any heat.

"Thals," a brunette tapped her shoulder. "What do you want to do now?"

"Abby can come with us for now," Thalia replied. "You don't have your comm anymore?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Here," she rummaged in her pack and tossed the small white device to me. I nodded my thanks.

Thalia tapped her comm and reported our coordinates to the other Hunters. The brunette scribbled a note. "Yo, Thals, should I add that Abby's here?"

Thalia gave me an evil grin. "Of course, Sidney. Can't wait to see the others' reactions when they see her."

"Go east," the other girl spoke. "We should check the mailbox on the way. It's only a minute or two from here."

Thalia nodded, her silver circlet glittering in her dark hair. "Why not?" she started jogging off. We followed.

"Hey," I said. "Does anyone know about this thing called a Waystation?" The question had been bugging me since Lityerses had mentioned it.

"The Waystation is in Indiana," Thalia said. "Emmie and Jo help us keep an eye on the list of unusual monster activity in that area." that opened up a lot more questions. But I had the feeling that if I asked all of them, we'd never finish. So instead, I nodded and kept my mouth shut (if you're wondering, it wasn't easy).

"It's quite a fascinating structure," Sidney supplied. "I've only been there twice, but it's almost like a living structure. And not in the Daedalus-labyrinth-I-want-to-kill-everyone kind of living. More friendly," she added.

"Oh," Sidney said suddenly. "Introductions. I'm Sidney. Daughter of Trivia. Hunter for… I don't really remember. Two hundred years?"

"Two hundred fifty-six," the other girl corrected. "Skye, by the way. I'm a legacy of Mars, but I'm also a daughter of Mnemosyne. I joined one? Two thousand years ago? I remember it was something like one thousand five hundred thirty-seven years. Yeah, that's right. My name was originally Priscilla Atalanta... " she said something that lasted almost thirty seconds. "So when English became more developed, and people kind of forgot how to speak ancient Greek, I changed it to Skye."

I blinked. "So you're both Greek and Roman."

"That's right."

"And a half-titan."

"Yep."

"So you're a Greco-Roman demi-titan, about one thousand, five hundred years old."

"Exactly."

I blinked again. I guess it wasn't the weirdest thing I'd heard of. But definitely up in the top twenty.

"You know Thalia," Sidney interrupted my brain-sorting. "Daughter of Zeus, the almost-child of the prophecy, et cetera."

I nodded. "Yep. Definitely. Heard she electrocuted my half-brother once. Is that true? 'Cause Percy keeps on trying to pretend it never happened."

Thalia smirked. "That's not a camp myth. It's very real. Very, very real."

I nodded. "Good to know," I said with pretend thoughtfulness.

"Guys, this way," Skye pointed. "Thalia, we should get the whole group together. Fan out ahead of the fox. Hopefully, we can kill it soon."

Thalia nodded. "Why not?" she pulled out a map. "We're here," she tapped a spot in Wyoming. "Fox is heading that way," she traced her finger down the map. She double tapped the spot. A set of coordinates shimmered above the map. Sidney reported them to the rest of the Hunters.

"We're going to ride," Thalia informed us. "Too hard to get past the fox on foot."

"I thought you don't like heights," I said.

"Who told you about that?" Thalia wheeled around.

"Oh, come on. You know Percy talks in his sleep," I lied. He'd actually told me during a truth or dare game. But since I prefer my brother alive (even though it'd be funny to see Thalia yelling at my brother, who was almost a foot taller than her five foot two inches), I just fibbed, something I'd become quite good at over the years.

Sidney snickered. "Boys."

A bit later, Skye poked Thalia's shoulder. "Mailbox."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I know. I'm not that bad at remembering stuff."

"That could be debated," Sidney countered.

"Like that time you managed to forget where you put your pen," Skye said.

"Or that time you lost your backpack," Sidney added.

"Fine," Thalia said finally. "Let's stop here," she offered, changing the subject. "Call the rest of the gang over. We should be about a day ahead of the fox. And the mailbox is right there."

Skye shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

In no time at all, the other groups of Hunters started to arrive. Some in pairs, or by themselves. Some came in groups of three.

"There aren't a lot of people," I commented to Thalia.

"No," she agreed. "We Hunters often go off on our own hunts, but we always, always stay with their tent-mates. But recently, since the Titan War, our numbers have dropped dramatically. We lost too many against Orion, and we lost several of our sisters while hunting our last major hunt…"

"The Lydian Drakon," Skye said.

"Yeah. We usually have at least twenty to thirty Hunters. Before the Titan War we had forty," Sidney added.

"But now," Thalia continued, "as you can see, our sisterhood has been reduced to no more than a dozen."

"Abigail Gao! What do you think you were doing?" a familiar voice yelled at me.

"Hey, Rachel! Whassup?" I grinned. Rachel emerged from the underbrush, twigs in her hair, and dried grass and leaves stuck to her clothes.

She tackled me with a bear hug. "Are you kidding? We thought you were dead, or worse!"

Julianna punched me in the arm and grinned. "We thought Thalia was going to explode!"

In no time, we had set up camp. Usually, there would be a fire at the center of the crescent, but we didn't want to drive the Tessumian Fox.

Rachel studied my face. "You look like you haven't slept properly for days. Do you not take moonwater?"

I blinked. It was true. I hadn't slept properly since Indiana. "What moonwater?" I asked.

"This," Rachel said, pulling out a canteen. I waited. I had the same canteen in my own pack. "Is moonwater." she poured some out into her hand. It looked like normal water, with something silvery, like mercury, mixed into it. "Just a sip gives a person the feeling of a good night's sleep and a good meal. It also makes you more alert."

"But you can't take it too often, or there could be some serious side effects," Julianna added. "It could make you extremely woozy, or just pass out. Also, it would make you feel as if you hadn't eaten in a week, along with an acute sense of thirst. So, like any other magical food or drink, don't overindulge."

"Good to know," I mumbled. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed, before either of you comes up with another clever idea to keep me awake, or better, get me a cup of proper Chinese green tea."

I grinned, crawled into the tent, and promptly passed out on my sleeping bag.

**Whee! Spring break is around the corner! I hope to post another chapter during that week. As always, constructive criticism is welcome, so review, favorite, follow, etc.**

**Good hunting!**

**~Hunter of Artemis 01**


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